Center for Maine Contemporary Art

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Center for Maine Contemporary Art CMCA —Center for Maine Contemporary Art: Advancing contemporary art in Maine through exhibitions and educational programs. www.cmcanow.org

SAY WOW TO THE NEW CMCA

Experience the art of this generation and the next. CMCA’s exhibitions and educational programs are made to inspire and attract visitors of all ages and backgrounds. With its iconic sawtooth roofline, CMCA’s striking new building—designed by architect Toshiko Mori—provides exceptional exhibition space for presentation of work by contemporary artists. The complex also includes a gift shop, an ArtLab classroom, and a courtyard open to the public. Located in the heart of Rockland’s downtown arts district, CMCA is in walking distance of the Farnsworth Art Museum and Wyeth Center, the Strand Theatre, and dozens of art galleries, restaurants, and hotels. Be ready to say wow!

🎟️ CMCA x Strand Theatre’s Because the Sky is Blue film series opens this Sunday, October 25, at 5 pm, with Derek Jarman...
10/23/2026

🎟️ CMCA x Strand Theatre’s Because the Sky is Blue film series opens this Sunday, October 25, at 5 pm, with Derek Jarman’s Blue (1993). Released the year before the writer and director’s death from AIDS-related illness, Blue is a deeply personal and formally daring work that explores memory, love, mortality, and the expressive possibilities of color.

The screening will be introduced by Dr. Tom Sapsford, Associate Professor in Classical Studies at Boston College, who will also lead a post-screening Q&A. Sapsford’s research explores performance, gender, and sexuality in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds and their later reception. His current book project, Classics & the Gay Counterculture, examines how artists and activists from the gay underground, including Derek Jarman, adapted Greco-Roman materials in arresting and subversive ways. Before entering academia, Sapsford worked as a dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet, Michael Clark Company, and others.

Tickets are available online at RocklandStrand.com, by calling the box office at (207) 594-0070, or at the walk-up box office one hour before showtime.

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Best known as a narrative realist, Bo Bartlett began his “Blue Sky” paintings shortly after September 11, 2001. As the a...
10/22/2026

Best known as a narrative realist, Bo Bartlett began his “Blue Sky” paintings shortly after September 11, 2001. As the artist observed that day, “It dawned on me that even with the horrific events, the world kept spinning, the sun kept shining, the tides kept ebbing and flowing, that what America was experiencing were ‘human problems,’ and that nature didn’t really seem to care.”

Generally painted in a single day and looking only in one direction, these are representational paintings with no subject. With careful attention what appear at a distance to be monochrome or color field paintings reveal themselves to be attempts to accurately portray the color and conditions of the sky. Consistent with the artist’s usual approach, they are set in gold-leafed frames, which given their subject matter recall windows and suggest the art historical tradition of trompe-l’oil (a French phrase meaning “deceive the eye”).

These paintings’ complicated relationship to multiple movements and genres of painting parallels the psychological, emotional, and political difficulties that gave rise to many of them —not just the events of September 11th, but other moments of personal challenge in the artist’s life. The way in which these paintings inhabit multiple histories of paintings simultaneously thus mirrors the complex, overlapping feelings that inspired them.

Because the Sky is Blue is on view at CMCA through January 17, 2027. Learn more at the link in our bio 🔗

Bo Bartlett
Blue Sky, September 17, 2014, 2014
Blue Sky, May 1, 2011, 2011
Blue Sky, August 4, 2012, 2012
Blue Sky, August 26, 2012, 2012
Blue Sky, September 11, 2012, Wheaton Island, Maine, 2012, Oil on panel, framed
Courtesy of the artist and the Bo Bartlett Center, Columbus, Georgia

📷 Art Index

Julie Poitras Santos’s text-based installations draw on her experience as a visual artist and poet and exist between tho...
10/19/2026

Julie Poitras Santos’s text-based installations draw on her experience as a visual artist and poet and exist between those two traditions. Here, the artist presents a selection from a larger poetic text reflecting on the loss of a beloved mentor as a site-specific work. While Poitras Santos’s text-based installations are often executed with vinyl letters, this instance of A Blue Garden trades that material for a rich blue paint, rendering it a mural and placing it in direct dialogue with the tradition of conceptual painting Because the Sky is Blue examines.

The fragment “GIOTTO’S ANGELS’ BIRDS ARE FLYING” evokes the early Renaissance painter Giotto’s revolutionary 14th-century frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, in which angels soar against an extravagant blue backdrop. Giotto’s blue was made in part from ground lapis lazuli, then among the most precious and expensive pigments. A Blue Garden couples a foundational moment in Western painting with the use of text as image in conceptualism. Moreover, the text’s repeated evocation of blue in a variety of settings manifests the intensity of grief while acknowledging its connection to love.

Julie Poitras Santos
A Blue Garden, 2022/2026
Flashe

Plan your visit to CMCA at the link in our bio 🪽

📷 Art Index

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 17 at 1pm! Join us for a special Beautiful Blackbird ArtLab for All at the Midcoast Villager...
10/16/2026

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 17 at 1pm! Join us for a special Beautiful Blackbird ArtLab for All at the Midcoast Villager Cafe 📚🎨

CMCA FILM SERIES AT THE STRAND 🎈In conjunction with Because the Sky is Blue, CMCA and the Strand Theatre present a three...
10/14/2026

CMCA FILM SERIES AT THE STRAND 🎈In conjunction with Because the Sky is Blue, CMCA and the Strand Theatre present a three-part film series extending the exhibition’s exploration of painting and its boundaries into the medium of film.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25 | 5PM
Blue (1993), Derek Jarman
A deeply personal and formally daring film exploring memory, love, and mortality. Introduced by Dr. Tom Sapsford, Associate Professor in Classical Studies at Boston College, whose research examines performance, gender, and sexuality, including the work of Derek Jarman. Q&A to follow.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1 | 5PM
Double Tide (2009), Sharon Lockhart
Filmed on the mudflats of Midcoast Maine, Double Tide documents the work of a female clam digger whose labor is defined by the rhythms of the natural world. Introduction by CMCA Curator and Interim Director Grant Wahlquist.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8 | 12:30PM
The Red Balloon (1956), Albert Lamorisse
A family-friendly screening of the beloved French short film, followed by an ArtLab for All workshop at CMCA, where participants will create and decorate their own hanging paper balloon sculptures.

All screenings take place at the Strand Theatre in Rockland.

Tickets: $12 general admission / $9 seniors and students for Blue and Double Tide. The Red Balloon: $9 adults and seniors / $2 children.

Tickets are available online at www.RocklandStrand.com; by calling the box office at (207) 594-0070; or at the walk-up box office one hour prior to each film showtime →

Sunday, October 18, join exhibiting artist Ryosuke Kumakura for an adult workshop where participants will learn to make ...
10/10/2026

Sunday, October 18, join exhibiting artist Ryosuke Kumakura for an adult workshop where participants will learn to make drawing charcoal from raw wood, then explore the expressive possibilities of charcoal on paper.

An opportunity to experiment with materials, learn a new process, and discover the possibilities of one of drawing’s oldest mediums.

CMCA Adult Makerspace
Sunday, October 18 | 10am-1pm
The Riley School, Rockland
Ages 18+ | Limited to 15 participants

Details in the comments below 🔥

Headshot: Dana Nielsen Clark

Thank you for joining us for the opening reception of BECAUSE THE SKY IS BLUE!Now on view 🍊If you didn’t make it to the ...
10/06/2026

Thank you for joining us for the opening reception of BECAUSE THE SKY IS BLUE!

Now on view 🍊If you didn’t make it to the opening, plan your visit at the link in our bio.

📸 Dana Nielsen Clark

OPENING // Because the Sky is Blue opens today! Join us for a celebratory opening reception from 4–7pm during Rockland’s...
10/02/2026

OPENING // Because the Sky is Blue opens today! Join us for a celebratory opening reception from 4–7pm during Rockland’s First Friday ArtWalk, with DJ Alien Baby in the courtyard and tacos from Taqueria Max. Free and open to all.

Artists: Clémentine Adou, Wilfrid Almendra, Bo Bartlett, Vija Celmins, Selena Kimball, Ryosuke Kumakura, Glenn Ligon, Sharon Lockhart, Matthew Metzger, Julie Poitras Santos, Miao Wang.

Because the Sky is Blue brings together artists from Maine and around the world, expanding CMCA’s geographic scope while placing artists with deep connections to Maine in conversation with voices from across the United States and internationally.

Image:
Wilfrid Almendra
Sonata ###I, 2024
Steel, galvanized metal sheet, aluminum, polystyrene, lead, cathedral glass, mirror, silicone
15 × 20.75 × 4.25 inches
Courtesy of the artist, DOCUMENT, Chicago, and Ceysson & Bénétière

CMCA is pleased to announce Grant Wahlquist as our Interim Director. A respected curator and cultural leader with deep t...
09/30/2026

CMCA is pleased to announce Grant Wahlquist as our Interim Director. A respected curator and cultural leader with deep ties to Maine’s arts community, Wahlquist brings nearly two decades of curatorial and critical experience to the role.

“We couldn’t be more delighted knowing we have someone as talented as Grant to step in and provide steady leadership for CMCA,” said CMCA Board Co-chairs Carolyn Watson and Rick Franklin. “He has demonstrated the leadership qualities we value, and through his curatorial vision and management abilities during his tenure at CMCA, has proven that he can successfully lead the organization into its 75th anniversary year.”

Wahlquist joined CMCA in July 2025 as curator, overseeing the museum’s dynamic exhibition program. Over the last year, he has curated or overseen 10 changing exhibitions, including the upcoming Because the Sky is Blue, opening October 2.

“I am honored to step into this role at such an important moment of growth and renewed momentum,” said Wahlquist. “CMCA has an extraordinary history of championing artists and introducing audiences to ambitious contemporary art, and I look forward to partnering with our talented staff and board to build on and expand that legacy.”

Join us in congratulating Grant on his new role!

📷 Dana Nielsen Clark

Because the Sky is Blue opens ONE WEEK FROM TODAY, Friday, October 2 from 4–7pm during Rockland’s First Friday ArtWalk a...
09/25/2026

Because the Sky is Blue opens ONE WEEK FROM TODAY, Friday, October 2 from 4–7pm during Rockland’s First Friday ArtWalk and we can hardly contain our excitement!

Featuring Artists Clémentine Adou, Wilfrid Almendra, Bo Bartlett, Vija Celmins, Selena Kimball, Ryosuke Kumakura, Glenn Ligon, Sharon Lockhart, Matthew Metzger, Julie Poitras Santos, and Miao Wang.

Because the Sky is Blue examines the histories of painting and its place as a critical practice today. Bringing together artists strongly associated with Maine and voices from beyond the region, the exhibition explores works that inhabit multiple histories, media, and genres, challenging conventional distinctions between painting, sculpture, photography, and film.

Join us for a festive opening reception with DJ Alien Baby ( Allison Cekala ) in the courtyard and tacos served up by Taqueria Max.

Free admission to our galleries on First Friday is made possible by our fantastic sponsor Camden National Bank !

Image:
Selena Kimball, Atlas of Air, fig. 33, 2021, Collaged pigment prints on Hahnemühle rice paper, framed, 8.5 x 8.5 inches (sheet), Courtesy of the artist and Ulterior Gallery, New York

Address

21 Winter Street
Rockland, ME
04841

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Telephone

(207) 701-5005

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